Amphibians

About Amphibians

Colorful, diverse, and important ecological indicators, amphibians require moist environments – though some live in the desert, albeit underground! Amphibians include toads, frogs, salamanders, newts and caecilians. Toads, like the critically endangered Houston Toad, tend to have drier skin and live more on land. Frogs, like the beautiful and brightly-colored poison dart frog, have smoother skin than toads and typically live in watery or damp habitats.Despite this distinction, it’s only half the story – there are lots of exceptions to these “rules!”Salamanders look a lot like lizards, though they are completely different: they have smooth skin (no scales). The name salamander comes from the Greek word for “fire lizard.” They can regenerate limbs that are lost – what a way to escape predators! Caecilians have no arms or legs and look like big worms, and many of them burrow underground and live in tunnels.

Amphibian populations around the world have been declining at an alarming rate – this is an indicator both of their environment, which has changed due to habitat loss, pollution (including pesticides), and disease, to name a few. Chytrid is a type of fungus that infects the skin of amphibians and can cause rapid population decline, because it is highly contagious – keepers at the Houston Zoo, for example, are working hard to fight against this epidemic and are partnering with organizations locally, as well as in Central America, to prevent the fungus from wiping out certain species of amphibians.